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Monday, 25 January 2016

OK, so it's not really a roller shutter as it doesn't roll and it's removed to show when it's opened.
it's
the final gap in my model of "the street" I'd been working on which
came to a grinding halt not just because of Xmas but also because of a
backlog of printing that I needed doing.
Nearly four years ago
(yes, four years!), when this model was started I did have all the
external walls and fittings printed but with the passage of time several
bits went missing.

The two errant door sides

Over the holiday period at least these two pieces
have come to light and whilst they may be slightly curled, they have
retained their original colour and are very usable.
A this would be an easy fix I set about installing the new finds into the model
It was a very easy job that I still managed somehow to make more difficult for myself.

All the essential bits

The gap between the outer and inner walls was far
slimmer than I would have liked and the gaps at either side of the door
where the door would 'drop' in were a bit too narrow too. It left about
5mm either side of the door and would need a very thin piece of card.

The
mainstay of many a conversion, the cereal box was used for the door
itself and was carefully cut to size until if fitted snugly into the gap
of the main building.
Once I was happy with the fit I edged the
card with blue felt-tip as there would undoubtedly be some of it showing
in when the two door sides were fitted to it.
having edged it
with felt tip it made the marking on the card (to centre the door)
almost impossible to read, but nevertheless it was done.

Inner side of completed door

Outer facing side of door

Carefully lining up to the inner and outer faces of
the door was a bit of pain but the final effect was well worth it as
very little of the blue edging showed through.
Slotting in the
door is a bit tight, as I wanted, but not so tight as to scrape the
outer or inner printed pieces when this was done. (vast amounts of glue
and burnishing may well have helped).
And that was it, in all it
only took about an hour to fix the new roller shutter to the back of the
"Blue Sun" general store excluding glue drying time and door
"flattening" time.

The door in place.

That's it then for this week, not much I know, but nevertheless something.

Monday, 18 January 2016

This post has pretty much nothing really whatsoever to do with Castles or grey-scales (whatever they are) but rather for want of a better title I thought I'd give my opinions on what I'm actually not looking forward to on the blogging front this year and the title seemed to fit.
I wince every time I see someone's pride and joy, a newly finished castle in their perfect painted grey - Normally that blue-ish grey that looks so effective. I should know I used to do the same thing when I built castles!
"But castles are grey aren't they ?" I hear you ask.
Well they may be, but for the sake of me I can't find one that is, though I'm sure you, the reader will no doubt have stronger google-fu than me and find one to prove some point or other.

Raglan Castle

Case in hand:
This is a picture of Raglan Castle which I retrieved from google after searching for "Grey Castles" in images
OK, it's a bit lighter than some wargames castles I've seen, but matches well with the Airfix castle above.
What's wrong with that then ? Some granites are grey, yes, but granite takes an inordinate amount of time and effort to cut into blocks and other stone is far more suitable for ease (e.g. sandstone)

To illustrate my point further, here's a second picture of Raglan
Castle, but this time when it was not overcast and grey, but is rather
bright and sunny (must have had a high speed camera to catch such a shot
in Wales).
It illustrates perfectly imo the colour of the castle
as it currently is. When it was new it would have none of the speckled
brown effect due to ageing but would have had a pristine look about it.
So before you start sending links of a "grey" castle, please do a little more digging.

My Son's left eye with ruler.

The next winge comment I'd like to make is concerning eyes.

I've always had a thing about those that paint eyes onto figures, because generally speaking they shouldn't be able to (I can't, so I don't even try).
The human eye is not quite a sphere, but has a 'width' of appromately 24mm with a variance of about 2mm in adults (childrens' eyes are much smaller).
So What ?
Well follow the numbers with me for a second, 24mm is approximately an inch (25.4mm) a man six foot tall has a height of 72". Therefore if our figures were 72mm tall you would have to paint the eyes on them 1mm wide (and about half a mm in height .

Same eye, opened as wide as he could.

What no gasping or drawing of breath ?
The picture on the left shows the same eye, opened as wide as my Son could but is still only about 12mm of eye showing (half an inch)
which in the example above would be half a millimetre .
I certainly can't paint half a millimetre, but I'm sure there are some of you out there that can.
However can you paint eyes on a figure that is 36mm tall (bottom of foot to top of head) 's using the above numbers, if you can then you would be paintomg the eyes half a mm wide and a quarter of a mm tall !

Oh, and obviously the smaller the figures, the more difficult it will be to get anywhere near a correct effect. One problem of course is that extra ball of putty the figure manufacturers slap into the socket, making the figure look like Marty Feldman (look it up you youngsters), which is mostly unnecessary for anything less than a 54mm figure. That ball represent the eye complete with all it's surrounding, top and bottom eye-lids and the bit of the face below the eyebrows too, but those that paint eyes will include it all.
Before I get hate mail from those that paint perfectly good eyes on figures (that are not squinting or cock-eyed in the least). I think that the problem is not with the painters, but rather with the size and proportions of the figures.
All constructive criticism accepted of course and I still do love seeing all your lovely figures with their eyes, (even if my own eyes are disproportionally small compared to a figure's).

That's all for this week, please don't take offence at any of the above, it's written with humour in mind and just for food for thought and I hope it's been an eye=opener.

Monday, 11 January 2016

Whilst I don't normally take much notice of 'hits' (page views) or the number of followers I have I blog.
was surprised to fnd that with this post I'd hit 200 posts, a number I never thought I'd reach when I started in February 2012. A lot of blogs seem to have a shelf-life of about three years as the initial enthusiasm for then wanes.
I too reached this flagging stage of enthusiasm last year, but after a two month absence due to bout of illness (thanks to all who enquired as to my absence) I found some renewed energy to continue blogging and even managed a new project and blog merely as a record of it.

I was "advised" that it was better to post on a regular basis, be it
once a week, a month or whatever - this is probably the best advice I
took to heart as I found that working to a deadline was definitely
beneficial to my output - I've tried to maintain this even though the output has declined somewhat !
(the original adviser now doesn't btw)
When I started the whole blogging thing there was no instruction manual, no rules of etiquette nor any blog format - by which I mean what is acceptable content. All new bloggers seem to have to re-invent the wheel when starting save for any "useful" advice that we may get from a fellow blogger.

Over the years, (which seems strange to be able to say that now as I still consider myself 'new') I have made my own rules about blogs and blogging.
Firstly on my own blog I try to present it as best I can, foremost being checking spelling and layout (though the latter doesn't always pan out). I don''t post what I think others wish to see but post about what I hope will be of interest. I've found writing reports on games I've played can be really tricky as I've found found that if they're too long I get bored and as I can't write prose, I avoid the flowery bits ("Andy watched with glee as the enemy walked straight into his carefully set trap").

"Pitchers"....oops

I do try and vary the content as many other blogs do because I feel there is no point in posting the same things week after week - I've made the same building about five times and think it would be silly to pst the same thing five times !
But I think it is important to include pictures in any blog post (hence the random ones on here)as they not only break up tedious screeds of text but also add colour !

I've conscientiously avoided post titles that would avoid a flood of "hits" from sources other than the audience that this blog was originally aimed at. If you like to improve your own 'hits' then trying putting the word 'Boobs' into a post about all the errors you've made in something you've done !

The one thing that has kept me blogging is the considered comments that followers of my blog have made over the years (still can't get used to thinking I've been at this for four years now). I'm not talking about the "That's nice" type of comment but rather the considered sentece or two querying what I've posted about or suggesting an alternate view (whether or not I'd agree with it. Consequently I also try to comment in a similar fashion on the blogs I follow with more than a bland statement of a word or two, though sometimes it is all that can be said!

So a big thank you to all that have entertained and interested me with your own blogs, commented on my blog and kept me blogging, all of which has helped me to continue to blog and further my own projects.

And that's it for this week, hopefully I'll have somethibng else to write about next week!

Monday, 4 January 2016

Nothing much this week as I've taken a complete break from anything hobby related over the holidays save for to make some very tentative plans for my intentions over the next year.

First though, on the left, here's a photograph of all my hobby-related Xmas goodies.
Yes, it's a hobby-knife, not quite the box of scalpel blades that I would have liked, but the handle on this particular knife is a lot thicker than the ones I've used in the past, which will aid me greatly. I did make a lot of what I refer to as 'box buildings' in 2015 ( they have no interiors) and went through a lot of both scalpels and A1 sheets of foam-board. Luckily my stock of A1 foam-board has also been replenished with another ten sheets and I intend to make more buildings this year.
On the scratch-building front, I have three models I wish to make. The first I've been planning for a long time and will use a lot of the bits and pieces I've been retaining for several years now to use for it. The second is a standard card building, but will be all my own work, but based on a TV show.. The third build is for an idea I've had that I've never seen elsewhere and is also still in the planning stage.
Having lost a friend last year whom I thought would be a regular opponent in my Zombie games, it's been quite a struggle to find new opponents, but I'm still hoping to play a few games too this year and maybe attend one or two local shows again.
My other project (Gladiators) is nearing completion and consequently posts on my other blog will be reined in somewhat.

That's it for this week other than to thank you all for your kind comments or for just dropping by and to all have a happy and prosperous New Year.

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About Me

Hi, I'm Joe, I've been wargaming for over 40 years and table-top gaming in general for about the same length of time. I've taken part in Re-enactment and Larp.
I have a very wonderful understanding wife, 3 grown-up children and two grandchildren.